In what could only be billed as a fair contest between Milwaukee and Youngstown State, the team that would make fewer mistakes would probably win.  Both teams came into Saturday’s game with nine game losing streaks.

In the first half, Milwaukee had a lead as large as 18 points.  Youngstown State carved and fought until that lead was shaved all the way down to  33-28 at intermission.  The Panthers used some good passing and kept finding open people to take shots in building a big first half lead.  Lindsay Laur had 11 points and Angela Rodriguez added 10 for Milwaukee.  YSU got a nice boost from Liz Hornberger who went three-of-three from three point range.  Hornberger fluttered into the game like a moth, but made an impact by half.  Brandi Brown also had 12 points and six rebounds.

In the second half, Youngstown State trimmed the deficit to one at 34-33 when Tieara Jones hit a basket.  Unfortunately for the Penguins, Milwaukee went on an 15-3 run and widened the margin 49-36 with 10:07 to go.  Kenya Middlebrooks hit a three, her first points of the game, at the 7:59 mark to make it 49-42.  Next trip down the court, Milwaukee turned it over and Macey Nortey hit a layup for her first points of the game to make it 49-44.  There were not a lot of people at Beeghly Center, but the ones that showed were loud and into the game.  Nortey would go on to score five points in a row for YSU, but with 5:00 left in the game, but Milwaukee would hold a 56-47 lead.

YSU, losers of 38 of their last 39 Horizon League games, scratched and clawed all they could but always seemed to be trailing by nine. With 2:08 left in the game, Milwaukee held a 62-52 lead.

Brown finished the game for Youngstown State with 22 points and eight rebounds.  Hornbereger finished with nine points, all in the first half, and Nortey contributed seven points (all in the second half).

Milwaukee got 19 from Lindsay Laur and 13 from Rodriguez.  Sami Tucker also scored 11 points and hauled in 11 boards for the Panthers.  The Panthers improved to 4-11, 1-3 in the league.

Brandi Brown talked about the loss for the Penguins.  “We dug ourselves a big hole in the first half .  We can’t do that and expect to fight back.  We know we can win and compete, but we have to get more consistent.”

Coach Boldon echoed the sentiments of Brown.  “Our offense was just miserable today.  We didn’t execute, we didn’t take care of the ball, and we got real tentative in the second half.  We also reverted to taking some crazy shots and passing up the good ones.  I was very frustrated.  To the halfway point in the season, we are about average.  This is a bad day to ask me that question because we were so bad today.  I think that the team is showing signs of improvement, but you can’t rebuild a program and expect to see improvement consistently each game.”